aarsa

I try to tell stories that challenge our beliefs -whether that’s about an Afghan woman facing the social stigma of rape or a young Indian man coming to terms with his sexuality and gender identity. But I aim to do this while entertaining my viewer. I focus on dramatic irony and tone. I want my films to feel complete but leave the viewer wanting more.

Being the child of immigrants, I found myself constantly trying to reconcile my two cultures. Many times this task left me more confused and alienated with every effort. I discovered effective therapy came by sharing my story. Everyone is different. I wanted to share how I was different. Unfortunately, most people can’t sit around and listen to thoughts, feeling and perspectives that are so foreign to them they literally have no reference. I learned that in order to have people listen, you have to package your story. Build a world that everyone understands. Get your message out by weaving it through an experience everyone can relate to. Hope, desire, justice, heartache, betrayal, happiness, are tools to tell any story.

For "aarsa", I chose to tell the story of a young man at a particular stage in life where identity is usually formed. Your teens. It’s a crucial stage in everyone’s life and I find that it’s also the point where society’s expectations are the greatest. The pressure created from the expectation of who you should be and who you want to be is tremendously dramatic and something we all can relate to. I wanted to challenge my own thoughts and beliefs about a young man discovering his identity and hoped to spark the same internal questioning in others.

I pushed myself as a filmmaker on the production side as well by going far from the comforts of home making a film in India. I had to learn to bridge the gaps of language, culture and even filmmaking norms. I welcomed the thoughts and ideas of everyone involved and it truly took the film in a direction I would never have imagined. This film is the fruit of very hard labor. It's a true collaboration of dedicated people from many different walks of life. It's a film I'm incredibly proud of just to have completed.